Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Creating A Bride

Welcome to THE month for weddings! As familiar as I am with
the term “June Bride”, I haven't met many brides who were actually married in June. The ones I do know about selected this month for their wedding out of practicality – scheduled around a graduation, or
a move, or a job change. One couple I know who wed in June did so because they'd given themselves from January to June to save up for a honeymoon and wanted to make sure what they saved got spent on that and not something else, like furniture or new tires for his truck.

I've never written a wedding scene for one of my books, and only once have I written a marriage proposal scene. That was fun, but not as much fun as the shopping-for-a-wedding-dress- and-girlie-underthings scene in Twister, the latest in my romantic suspense Games People Play series.
Reese Adams, private investigator, anti any clothing with the potential to
be scratchy or fussy or requires hand-washing, is shopping for wedding dresses with best
friend Lane Partridge, her wedding date set for mid-September, (book is set early
July). This scene begins with them at their final bridal shop stop in downtown Denver, a few hours before Reese follows a suspected cheating spouse to his rendezvous spot with his mistress. One of them. ~~~~~

By now
Reese was a whiz at zipping and fluffing. She squatted down and fanned out the
three inches of skirt resting on the floor.

“This
one doesn’t have much of a tail end.”

“Train,”
Lane corrected.

Reese
stood up. When she looked at Lane’s mirror image she gasped.

“Oh my
God. Look at you.” No matter what Lane wore she always looked beautiful, but
in this dress Lane was jaw dropping stunning. It fit so perfectly it looked
like it had been designed with her in it. The simple milk white satin
emphasized Lane’s long, angular body, the tiny pearls edging the strapless
bodice and low cut back the only ornamentation.

Reese
was surprised when tears filled her eyes. She swiped at them when Lane pivoted
to look over her shoulder at an opposite mirror, and hoped she hadn’t notice.
But when Lane added a headpiece with a short veil, Reese’s eyes filled all over
again. And this time Lane joined her.

~~~

Since
the whole shopping experience had taken only a couple of hours and Reese still
had time to spare before Frank Faircloth would leave work, she agreed to making
a final stop on their way out.

“Remember
when I told you how much men like lace and satin lingerie?” Lane asked.

Reese
tossed her a distrustful look. “Yeah. Why?”

“Because”—she
grabbed Reese’s hand before she could bolt—“I’m taking you to the land of
clothes that make men weep. My treat.”

Before
Reese could holler I’m Being Kidnapped! Lane had dragged her into a dimly lit
store that smelled like the day old fruit section of a farmer’s market.

“We’re
going to find something to replace those limp cotton things you wear.”

With
Reese loudly protesting, Lane clamped her hand tighter and led her to the back
of the store past scantily clad mannequins exhibiting silk, satin and lace
items. Along the back wall were alcoves dripping with bras, underwear and an
assortment of dangling objects in every imaginable color.

Lane
stopped at a table decorated with lacy things. She held up something in a deep
violet.

“What is
it?” Reese asked, staying well out of reach.

“A
chemise. It’s part of a set.” She held up its mate.

“What
the hell is that?”

“It’s a
thong. Underwear, Reese.”

“Underwear?”
She leaned forward, her arms locked behind her, being careful to not touch it. “What
are you talking about? There’s no ‘under’ to it.”

Lane
held it up against her hipline. “It covers the front.” She rotated it. “Then
you don’t have any lines showing through your clothes.”

“And
that little strip there goes―” Reese’s brows shot up and she leaped back. “That’s
disgusting! And it’s gotta be uncomfortable as hell.” She bent down to look at
the price tag. “What? How can they charge this much for something that doesn’t
even cover your ass?”

Lane laughed.
“I just wanted to see your reaction. Never in a zillion years could I imagine
you in anything like this.” She tugged on Reese’s arm. “Come on, there are other
things that’ll be better for you.”

Reese
looked back over her shoulder at the thong display and shuddered. “I bet Janet
wears those things.”

“Janet?
Who’s Janet?”

“Ethan’s
secretary. She walks around like she’s got something stuck up her butt. I bet
it’s that little piece of whatever.”

Lane burst
out with a laugh. “Oh, this is going to be so
fun!”

I love writing my Games People Play series because through Reese I get to be sassy, brassy and irreverent and then let Ethan offset her traits with his elegant, urban, patient nature. As the writer, it's a good balance and a challenge to make it work. For the reader, well, I hope you're entertained!

Are there any wedding/proposal/shopping scenes you especially enjoyed writing? Any that you really enjoyed reading?

8 comments:

I really enjoyed your excerpt, Polly. I've written wedding scenes in several of my books and short stories. In my latest WIP, I actually have two wedding scenes, both in Italy. I have a novella in which the heroine owns a bridal shop. I was a June bride myself.

Melissa, Proposal scenes are one of my favorite to write. So much hope and possibility in them. Now I'm going to have to read Forever Love to find out what was special enough about your friend's proposal to put it in a book!